


Seashells

by MissMcCarthy



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:40:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21577711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMcCarthy/pseuds/MissMcCarthy
Summary: Prompt Fill: “You found it on the beach? You know, when most people take a walk on the beach, they pick up seashells.”
Relationships: Bucky Barnes/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	Seashells

The low rumble of thunder echoed throughout the room and you blinked the sleep out of your eyes, rolling over to find the bed empty. A heavy yawn escaped you as you rubbed at your face, your eyes struggling to read the alarm clock. You sighed, 6 a.m. If you got out of bed now, you knew you wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep but the bed next to you was cold and you needed to find Bucky before you could even entertain falling back asleep. 

As you climbed out of bed, your eyes scanned the room. His jogging shoes were gone, and you wondered if he’d realized a storm had rolled in when he set out for his run this morning. Part of you wanted to just crawl back under the covers, he’d come back from the jog soon like always, and the two of you could spend the morning in bed. 

The smell of fresh coffee floated in from the kitchen and you smiled softly, wrapping your robe around you as you headed out to the kitchen. Bucky always made sure to have the coffee brew while he was out on a run so he could bring it to you when he got back. It was the little things like that that had made you fall for him. 

The two of you had decided to take a two-week-long vacation and had rented a house on the beach in Florida. The weather was muggy, but no one had warned them that a major storm had been expected to blow in, and secretly you worried it was the result of some alien force. 

As you slowly padded over to the coffee pot and poured yourself a cup, heavy wind began to batter the house, fat raindrops smacking into the house and windows. Clutching the mug in your hands, you leaned back against the counter. You didn’t like that he was out in this weather, and your mind began to race with all of the things that could go wrong. 

Before your mind could go too far down the rabbit hole though, the front door swung open and Bucky raced in. His long hair was soaked and sticking to his face, his shoes squelching as he kicked them off. One hand was against his stomach gently, and you were beginning to worry when he looked up sheepishly to meet your gaze. 

“Morning Doll” he smiled at you, not removing his jacket as he strolled over to join you in the kitchen. 

“Morning yourself, babe” you tossed him a hand towel from next to you, and he caught in his metal hand, rubbing the worst of the water out of his hair, but his other hand never left his stomach. “You okay? Did you get hurt?”

“I’m not hurt, don’t worry about me” he smiled, “I was really hoping you were still asleep though…”

You raised an eyebrow curiously, taking a sip of coffee before you spoke, “Why is that?”

“Well, I was thinking this might go over a bit better if you were more awake” before you could ask, he was unzipping his jacket and he pulled a small, soaking wet kitten out and set it on the counter in front of you. 

The dark tortoiseshell kitten stared up at you. There was a perfect line down her face, one side was orange speckled with black, the other black dusted with white freckles. Her tail reminded you of a raccoon's, orange and black bands running down the length. Before the kitten could so much as move, you’d scooped her up in your arms and had begun carefully drying her with a fresh towel. 

“I was running and I heard her crying and I couldn’t leave her behind” he explained, watching you snuggle the kitten. 

You paused for a moment, shooting him a wry smile, “You found her on the beach? You know, when most people take a walk on the beach, they pick up seashells.”

“I did pick up Seashells” he smirked, “[Y/N], meet Seashell!” 

“You named her - does that mean you want to keep her?” you asked quietly.

You and Bucky had never discussed pets, and while you’d always wanted a cat you weren’t quite sure how Bucky would feel about it. Now warm and dry, you held her to her chest. Seashell began to look around, before reaching up slowly and batting at your nose with her paw. That was the moment you realized you were not letting this kitten go, no matter what it took.

Bucky smiled softly at Seashell’s antics and the lovestruck look on your face, “Yeah, yeah I’d like to keep her. Figure she picked me, and besides, she can keep you company when I’m on missions.”

You quickly kissed him on the cheek with a soft “I love you Bucky” before smiling down at the new family member, “and I already love you, Seashell.”

Seashell began to swat at your hands, and you quickly sat on the floor in the living room with her, Bucky sitting next to you, his arm around your waist, pulling you close. You snagged a washcloth off the counter and it wasn’t long before the rambunctious cat was running and pouncing, trying to kill the towel. 

You glanced over at Bucky out of the corner of your eye and the look on his face was enough to leave you breathless. He was watching you, a gentle smile on his face. You hadn’t seen him looking this peaceful and happy in a long time, and you curled in closer to him, head resting on his shoulder as you played with the kitten slowly.

A few minutes later, Seashell crawled into your lap and quickly fell asleep. You’d only known her for maybe 30 minutes but you’d already give the world for this little kitten. There was only one problem, you and Bucky lived in the tower. 

“So… I don’t mean to be Debby Downer, but I’m not sure Tony’s going to be okay with us bringing a cat into the tower” you sighed, your thoughts already beginning to race as you tried to figure out what you’d do if Tony said no. 

Bucky shrugged, unconcerned, “Then we sneak her in. It won’t be too hard. No one’s room is by ours, Tony’s always in the lab, she’s small!” 

“Well… It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission” you smirked.

“We should probably put up flyers though… in case Seashell has a home” he sighed, not liking the idea of potentially giving her up but for all you guys knew she had a loving family waiting for her at home.

For the next week and a half, you and Bucky plastered the neighborhood in signs about her. When you’d gone to hang one at the local pet supply store, the cashier told you he’d been seeing her around for weeks. She’d been dumped in the area, and she wouldn’t let anyone get close to her. Bucky had grinned widely when he realized that she’d picked him to take her home, and the next day you were able to get her microchipped and she was officially yours. 

Luckily, you’d already been planning to road trip back to the tower, so you didn’t have to worry about flying with her. Seashell spent most of the ride meowing loudly, and you were beginning to worry she wouldn’t make it easy to keep her hidden once you reached home. 

Your luck held when you got home and everyone was out on a mission. The tower was empty except for you and Bucky, so you were able to smuggle Seashell and all her supplies up into the room you shared with no issue. Bucky even went to the store and got the biggest cat tree he could find that would fit in the room and put it together in front of the window for her. 

You’d asked Friday not to tell anyone about Seashell, and she’d agreed. So long as no one tried to come into your room or heard her meowing, you’d be home free. The others came home the next day, and no one was any wiser about the newest resident of the tower. 

It took two months before anyone figured out that a cat was living in the tower. It didn’t surprise you that it was Nat who caught on first, of course, she’d notice the cat fur that was often on your clothing now. She’d tried confronting you about it, but you’d laughed it off. Of course, that didn’t stop Nat from pushing into your room and meeting the kitten herself. Nat was too smitten with the little one to even consider telling anyone, but she couldn’t wait to see how the others would react.

Three weeks later, Clint had figured out on accident as well. He’d come to your room to ask you a question but had merely burst into your room without knocking. You’d been sleeping on your bed, Seashell curled up on your stomach until he so rudely woke you up. You didn’t even bother trying to claim innocence, and Clint had grinned, it was like a prank he couldn’t wait to see the results of. 

Six months after bringing Seashell home, Bucky had been sent on a two-week-long mission and you’d fallen sick with the flu. Steve had tried to bring you soup and instead had discovered the feline as she chased the laser pointer toy you’d bought the week before. Steve had sighed and given you a disappointed look but said nothing about it to anyone. 

By the time Seashell had been home a year, everyone at the tower knew about her except for Tony. After a long hard mission, it wasn’t unusual for the others to come by and play or just relax with her. She was the unofficial therapy cat for the Avengers, and she was quite good at it. 

Of course, eventually Tony had to find out. You and Bucky were out shopping and Clint had stopped by to play with Seashell. Unfortunately, he forgot to make sure the door was shut tight. When you made it back to the tower that afternoon, you and Bucky strolled in laughing only to come to a complete stop at the sight in front of you. 

Seashell had fallen asleep, curled up on the back of the couch in the sunshine like she owned the place. Tony was standing there, and you could almost see the thoughts racing through his head as he tried to figure out how the hell a cat had made it all the way up to this floor. 

“[Y/N]... do you know why there’s a cat on the couch?” Tony turned to look at you, his expression unreadable. 

“Yeah… she’s uh, she’s our cat” you explained, although it sounded more like a question as you moved to stand by the sleeping cat. 

“She’s your cat?” he repeated, and you still couldn’t figure out how he was feeling about it all. 

“Yeah, Bucky and I have had her for like a year now, but she’s never managed to escape our room before.”

Tony looked at you, shocked, “No way. You can’t have been hiding a cat in the tower for a year. I don’t believe you.”

You smirked, “Friday, how long have we had Seashell?”

“You brought Seashell home 1 year, 3 weeks, 4 days, 5 hours and 29 seconds ago” Friday’s voice echoed throughout the room and you waited anxiously to see what Tony would do. 

“What’s Seashell doing out here?” Bruce had come in to grab a drink of water and hadn’t expected to find her out and about with Tony right there.

“Who else knows you have a cat?” Tony shot Bruce a curious glance before returning his attention to you and Bucky. 

“Well… now that you know… Everyone” Bucky admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. 

“Seashell isn’t a problem, and we’ll just take her back to our room and she won’t bug you. She’s been really good for everyone though and I know the others would be sad if you made us move out so please can we keep her?” you pleaded.

Before Tony could answer, Seashell got to her paws, and rubbed against Tony’s legs, purring loudly. He watched her for a long moment before a small smile crept onto his face. 

Tony sighed, “She can stay, but if she finds her way into the lab the two of you will have hell to pay.” 

From then on, Seashell had free run of the living areas of the tower, and she’d spend her day cycling through visiting everyone, but unless someone was having a really bad night, she always came back to your room to sleep, curled up with you and Bucky. 

Bucky never did pick up any actual seashells on the shore, but you weren’t complaining. Not when it brought you your new favorite Seashell.


End file.
